Apple, iPhone, iPod, Mac, Apple News

Google takes aim at Apple’s iPhone

If you’ve ever wished you could put Google in your pocket, you’ll have the opportunity soon – quite literally. The search-engine company is on the verge of releasing a software suite to run all aspects of mobile phones.

Google is not manufacturing phones but instead making the software for them – called Android – and relying on a consortium of hardware partners to make handsets in an array of shapes and sizes.

In stark contrast to Apple’s “one handset fits all” strategy with the iPhone, Google is hoping to mix Nokia’s approach of “a handset to suit every style” with Microsoft’s tactic of making the software, then winning market share by roping in many partner companies. More »

Apple’s upgraded $999 13-inch white MacBook offers a lot of value

“The 2009 MacBook White looks like all the previous white MacBooks, but there are some significant changes under the hood. The biggest difference is the inclusion of nVidia GeForce 9400M graphics, the same video circuitry introduced with the Unibody MacBook in October 2008. The revised MacBook White also moves from an 800 MHz system bus to 1066 MHz,” Dan Knight reports for Low End Mac.

“However, not everything is a step forward. Where the entry-level Penryn MacBook and the previous MacBook White had 2.1 GHz CPUs, the new model runs at 2.0 GHz. However, this is a newer version of the Core 2 Duo CPU, so it may actually outperform the earlier 2.1 GHz models. And in contrast to the Unibody MacBook, the MacBook White continues to use PC5300 DDR2 memory on a 667 MHz memory bus – and ships with 2 GB, twice as much as the 2008 MacBook White,” Knight reports.

“Perhaps the most surprising thing of all is that the 2009 MacBook White includes a FireWire 400 port, the only portable Mac so equipped, and has a Mini DVI port for an external display rather than the newer Mini DisplayPort found on all other current MacBooks (Unibody, Pro, and Air),” Knight reports. “For those seeking an affordable MacBook, the new US$999 model offers a lot. It should have comparable performance to the 2.0 GHz Unibody MacBook, although memory access may be a bit slower. At $300 less than the low-end Unibody MacBook, it provides a lot of value.”

More in the full article here.

Review: Surf Report for iPhone

If the only time you set your iPhone down is to catch a wave, then Surf Report from Oakley deserves a spot on your mobile device. With this app close at hand, you’ll always know what the surf conditions are where ever you happen to be.Surf Reports features listings for surf spots from North America to Asia, so you’re sure to find at least a few of your own local breaks. In my testing, I found 19 of my local surf spots listed in just a few seconds.

The first thing you will notice when opening up Surf Report is the sleek, beautiful, and intuitive interface. Finding your local surf spots couldn’t be easier with the “Near Me” button, which uses the location features in the iPhone and iPod touch to automatically bring up a list that includes the current wave height. Tap on a spot in the list, and you’ll be presented with many more details such as current and forecasted air and water temperatures, wind direction, wave period and direction, tide times, and sunrise and sunset times. You also can tap a button to get a map of the surf spot.

And if you’d like to see how the other half lives, you can get news, photos, and videos of the latest surf events and conditions, checking out what the surf is like in far-flung locales like New Zealand and Japan.

Oakley’s Surf Report is a great free app for anyone who likes to surf or just hang out at the beach.

Surf Report is compatible with any iPhone or iPod touch running the iPhone 2.1 software update.

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Data Detectors in Mail

In my opinion, the best addition to Mail.app in Leopard are data detectors. This feature means that Mail will automatically pick out dates, times and addresses so you can add events to iCal or view a map with just a couple of clicks. For iCal events, Mail even recognises relative dates like “tomorrow” and automatically enters this information when creating a new event.

To use the data detectors feature, simple hold your mouse over a date or time in an email message. A dashed box should appear around the item, with an arrow that you can click to bring up a drop-down menu. The two options available are “Create New iCal event” and “Show This Date in iCal”. If you create a new event, a dialog box just like the one in iCal pops up, ready filled with the information. This all happens within Mail, so there is no need to even open iCal.While this is a great timesaving trick, unfortunately the Mail dialog lacks some of the features that the iCal one has. You can only add a single alarm, and you can’t add attendees or attachments. However, it is still possible to use data detectors to fill out your event information and have access to these more advanced options. More »

Apple: refund of 20 euros on buying iWork 09

Between 20 January and 20 April 2009, buying a computer and Apple iWork’09 will receive a refund worth 20 euros. iWork’09 is the productivity suite for Apple (a kind of Microsoft Office), which contains several applications that let you create documents, spreadsheets and presentations.

The offer is limited to users who buy an Apple computer and a copy of iWork software package in retail and right to a refund of up to 20 euros on buying iWork for each valid for the purposes of promotion. Purchases must appear simultaneously on the same invoice.

To participate you need to send the request online at www.apple.com / promo, printing the online application form, proof of purchase in the form of a copy of your receipt or invoice and labels EAN / bar codes, cut. Within 30 days everything should be sent to:

Apple Rebates
P.O. Box 33, Ross-On-Wye, HR9 7WA
United Kingdom

The offer has no retroactive. AppleTV, iPhone and iPod touch are not valid for this promotion. The offer is limited to users who purchased the products valid for the purposes of promotion in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, United Kingdom, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.